Forest Song
by PollenPawprints
Summary: Lone troll Signless wanders into the territory of the Grand Highblood and his pack. Instead of being chased out, he ends up being forced to join their pack.
1. Chapter 1

The sounds of the forest died down as many of the animals went to sleep. Those that wandered the night were far fewer in number and could not even come close to the volume that the hundreds of daytime songbirds and other such creatures created.

Red eyes glowed in the fading light, the nocturnal creature attached to them silent as they slipped between the foliage. The creature was feline in form, but this was no wild cat. Pointed ears sat atop its head, a pair of short, nubby horns between the two ears. Its grey fur was short but thick, while its frame was thin and sleek. It was clearly built for speed and was no bigger than a fox in size.

There was an almost human-like look to its face, an intelligent glint in its eyes as its long tail flicked behind it. It crept through the underbrush on all fours, weaving between bushes with its nose pressed close to the ground. Hot on the trail of its next meal, the creature paid no attention to the other scents around it.

Lifting its head, the creature peered over the long grasses in front of it to spot the prey it had been following. A rabbit nibbled at something in front of it, large ears twisting and turning in search of danger. The creature crouched back down, bunching its muscles and going completely still. It waited for a few moments for its prey to relax a bit before striking.

Before the rabbit knew what was happening, razor-like claws and sharp fangs descended out of the underbrush onto the unfortunate rabbit. The creature licked the rabbit's blood from its muzzle before picking its kill up and padding happily towards the distant sound of a river. It could eat its catch right there, but it wanted to find somewhere with a better view of the sky so it could stargaze while it ate.

The sounds of the river got louder as the creature eventually reached the riverside. The deep water surged against the water-worn banks, the occasional flash of silver giving hint to a fish swimming past.

The creature settled on a rock next to the river, lying down and digging into its meal as it looked up. The combination of the good meal, the noise from the water, and the peaceful sight of the stars above caused the creature's tail to wag lazily in a sign of contentment. It ate slowly, seeming to be in no hurry to finish or leave.

The creature only seemed to show some concern when the bushes rattled, alerting the creature to something far bigger than the rabbit it had caught approaching. Its mouth opened slightly, taking in a deep wiff of the oncoming smell.

A troll, and a male at that, just like the creature itself. He swiveled his ears towards the source of the noise, head tilted slightly as he took in more of the scent. One of the colder colors, most definitely, though it was accompanied by an almost nervous smell that was quite unusual for the bigger and colder colors.

The troll's observations were soon proven correct as a large troll, though certainly not the largest he had encountered, pushed out into the open area by the river. The troll before him was easily the size of a mountain lion, with horns like the sticks he had seen humans use to take down their prey and cobalt-blue eyes.

The coldblood stared at the redblood, looking surprised, wary, and just a bit curious. The smaller troll didn't wait for the larger troll to react before fleeing with the remains of his meal in his jaws, darting down the riverside quick as a hare. He could hear the sound of the blueblood giving chase, growls that were clearly territorial and also somewhat of an order to stop escaping the larger troll. He should have paid more attention to the smells around him; then he would have known he had wandered onto some other troll's...or trolls'...territory.

He eventually came up to a bend in the river, the angry coldblood hot on his heels. Thinking quick, he quickly sprung over a rock and launched himself across the river. It was a wide river and he didn't quite make it to the other side, landing with a splash and paddling towards the shore even as he was swept downstream a bit.

He shook himself off when he pulled himself out of the water, glancing back. He had been swept quite a ways from where he had jumped, giving him a lead over the coldblood.

Moving quickly, but no longer running, he disappeared into the foliage at the other side of the river. He walked for quite a while, stopping at one point to scarf down the soggy remains of his meal and bury them so that the scent wouldn't lead to him. He rested after he had walked a sufficient distance from his buried meal, grooming himself just a bit and taking care to scent the air around him.

The smell of quite a few other trolls assaulted him, alerting him to the fact that this was not the blueblood's territory alone. He had stumbled into a pack, mostly coldbloods judging by the smell.

Trolls quite commonly formed packs, though it ranged from just a bunch of trolls living somewhat near each other and occasionally helping with hunting to tightly-knit groups of similar bloods with a leader or group of leaders that hunted together and cared for each other.

The small troll sighed, glancing up at the sky between the trees as he tried to figure out what to do. The sun would be rising soon, so he supposed he should go ahead and find somewhere hidden to sleep. He wouldn't want the pack to find him napping in their land. He could always just keep walking, though the sunlight would hurt his eyes should he leave the safety of the tree. Plus, he had no idea how large of a territory these trolls had. Depending on the size, it might be a a few nights' journey just to get out.

Searching around a bit, he eventually decided on squeezing himself under the slightly-raised roots of an old tree. Coldbloods tended to be big, so when he was tucked up it would be hard for them to get him if they did find him.


	2. Chapter 2

The tiny troll had been sleeping for a while when he woke up, the feeling of air rushing around him startling the redblood. He landed in what felt like a bush, and teeth sunk into his scruff before he could react. Hissing and snarling, dangerous claws swiping uselessly at the air around him, the redblood was carried off through to forest by what smelled to be blueblood from before. He must have been dug out from his hiding place; that was the only way the unfamiliar troll would have gotten to him.

Unable to escape, the troll huffed and went limp as the larger troll carried him through the foliage. Aside from the toss from his den, the blueblood was being strangely careful that the little troll stayed relatively unharmed. He worried about where the larger troll was taking him.

It was quite a bit of walking later that the smell of other trolls became thick in the air. The blueblood pushed past some thick bushes, revealing the mouth of a fair-sized cave. There was another troll sitting in the entrance of the cave, a male by the smell with purple eyes that narrowed on the blueblood and the tiny mutant he was carrying. This troll was even bigger than the blueblood, roughly the size of a bear and about as bulky-looking as one too.

The troll, a purpleblood by the smell of it, heaved himself to his feet and padded over, tall, swirling horns adding to the size of the beast. The purpleblood and the blueblood exchanged affectionate chirps, leaving the mutant to dangle awkwardly from the blueblood's jaw. It was only after the two had greeted each other once more that both turned their attention to him. The purpleblood seemed pleased, crooning to the blueblood.

The mutant was dropped, but the purpleblood grabbed his scruff before he could run off. Much to his displeasure, he was carried deeper into the cave. There were a few tunnels branching off here and there, yips and chirps and all sorts of clues that there were more trolls around echoing through the cave, and the little troll was carried down one into a smaller room that the purpleblood carrying him had to squeeze through. It opened up into a small room, just big enough for one or two adult trolls, and the mutant was dropped there.

Huffing, he turned to groom his fur back down and glare at the purpleblood, who merely gave him a warning growl and nudged him forward. He turned, trying to figure out what it was that the purpleblood wanted from him.

It was then that he heard the squeaking.

Most of the small room was filled with a large, comfortable looking nest that sprawled out from the middle. In the nest, there were four little pups, two little blue-furred pups and two purple. Their coats would turn grey as they matured, the color in their fur replacing the grey of their eyes.

Glancing back at the purpleblood, he tilted his head in confusion. Why had he been thrown into the den of these two's pups?

In answer, he was given a harder shove and went tumbling into the nest. The pups immediately clambered onto him, clinging to fur and wedging themselves wherever they could to get some warmth.

So he was to take over as a sort of surrogate guardian, some troll to watch the pups as the two larger trolls did whatever it was they did. Usually only pack leaders did this, as they had to care for the whole pack and did not want their pups to be neglected. He could only assume that that was what the purple and blueblood were. Pack leaders.

He sighed, looking at the pups as the purpleblood growled a warning to him. He flicked his tail in understanding. He had no intention of harming the pups. They hadn't done anything to him. Plus, he had always wanted some of his own and nannying some other trolls' pups would be a close second.

He laid his head down, eyes glancing up at the purpleblood as the pups all settled themselves on him. He received a snort, the purpleblood turning and squeezing himself back out of the room.

Well, he could figure out what to do in the evening. For now, he was content to finish his sleep surrounded by the pups and the soft nest.


End file.
